Arrowhead with resiliently mounted prongs



March 22, 1966 c. J. ZWICKEY 3,241,836

ARROWHEAD WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED PRONGS Filed July 29, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR C2 mroeo d Z w/c/rtr ATTORNEY March 22, 1966 c. J. ZWICKEY 3,241,836

ARROWHEAD WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED PRONGS Filed July 29, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR C1 /FFO/?.D J av/arm BY 1 3 nn v ng ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,241,836 ARROWHEAD WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED PRONGS Clifford .I. Zwickey, 2571 E. 12th Ave., North St. Paul, Minn.

Filed July 29, 1963, Ser. No. 298,320 11 Claims. Cl. 2731t)6.5)

This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application No. 832,020, filed August 6, 1959, and now abandoned. The purpose of my invention is to provide an inexpensive arrow head for field practice and for the taking of small game and birds. The special features include an outer body of resilient material such as vinyl plastic which can be readily and slidably engaged upon a conventional type of solid arrow tip or directly upon the forward end of an arrow shaft.

An object of the present invention lies in the provision of an arrow head formed of resilient material and in which a plurality of angularly spaced prongs pro ject from the resilient body and are designed to eliminate the whipping of the arrow shaft when its strikes a glancing blow at a tree or similar object, and to prevent consequent breakage thereof. The resilient head normally holds the prongs in predetermined relation to the shaft. However, when any of the prongs strike a solid or semi-solid object, the head will flex to permit the relatively rigid arms to flex rearwardly.

A further feature of the present invention lies in the provision of an arrow head or head attachment which will engage grass, leaves, underbrush and the like to decrease the speed of movement of the arrow and at the same time prevent the loss of the arrow. The resiliently supported prongs gather grass and leaves and leave a readily visible track which can be seen by the archer.

In my previous patents, 2,628,837, issued February 17, 1953, and 2,671,664, issued March 9, 1954, I disclosed arrow heads having a plurality of angularly spaced resilent arms projecting therefrom. These heads were designed to accomplish much the same result as the present construction. While such arrowheads serve their intended purpose very effectively, the present construction has certain advantages. In the first place, the heads shown in my previous patents are relatively expensive to produce, and the resilient arms form a permanent part of the arrowhead. In the present arrangement, the heads are relatively inexpensive to produce, and may be used as an attachment to a field point of conventional form if desired.

A further feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the prongs may be formed of relatively rigid material, as the resilient body will flex rather than the prongs. The resilient body permits the prongs to project, for example, from a forwardly and outwardly inclined position to a rearward position at an acute angle to the shaft. The danger of injury to the prongs is largely eliminated by this arrangement.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the preferred form of construction, showing the construction thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, showing the prongs in rearwardly inclined position.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through a slight variation of the construction shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of head with one of the prongs flexed rearwardly.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of cushioning member.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view through the arrow head and cushioning member shown in FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is an end view of the cushioning member shown in FIGURES 5 and 6.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view similar to FIGURE 5, but showing the projecting prongs in a diiferent pivoted position.

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 8 but showing the arrow head penetrating through the cushioning member.

One form of the construction of my arrow head is illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings. This construction, which is indicated in general by the letter A, is mounted upon an arrow shaft 10 of conventional form having a tapered forward end 11 which is engaged in a similarly tapered socket 12 of the solid arrow tip 13. The tip 13 is shown as having a generally cylindrical outer surface portion 14, although this portion may be shaped to provide a neck of smaller diameter near the forward end thereof if preferred. The body portion 14 terminates in a forwardly facing shoulder 15 from which projects a generally frusto-conical portion 16. The large diameter end of the frust-o-conical portion 16 joins the shoulder 15 but is of small diameter relative to the diameter of the shoulder 15.

A generally cylindrical portion 17 connects the frustoconical portion 16 with a second frusto-conical portion v19, the base portion of which is directed toward the shoulder 15 and being of substantially larger diameter than the cylindrical portion 17 to form a rearwardly facing shoulder 20 in opposed relation to the shoulder 15. In the particular arrangement illustrated, a short cylindrical projection 21 extends from the small diameter end of the frusto-conical portion 19.

A sleeve 22 of flexible resilient material such as rubber or vinyl plastic, is engaged between the shoulders 15 and 20 to fill space. The sleeve 22 is usually provided with a rounded exterior surface 23, the forward end of which is of approximately the same diameter as shoulder 20. The sleeve 22 is sufliciently resilient to be forced over the frusto-conical portion 19 to assemble the sleeve on the arrow tip. The tip is provided with a series of angularly spaced prongs 24, four equally spaced prongs being used in the particular construction described. The prongs 24 are preferably provided with flat heads 25 similar to nail heads which extend flush with the inner surface of the sleeve 22. The prong heads 25 bear against the frusto-conical portion 16 of the arrow tip as indicated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings. The angle at which the prongs 24 extend from the sleeve 22 thus depends upon the taper of the frusto-conical portion 16 of the arrow tip 13.

The operation of this structure is indicated somewhat diagrammatically in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. When the prongs strike an obstruction such as trees, brush, leaves or turf, the prongs are bent in a rearward direction as indicated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings so that the prongs act to retard the movement of the arrow while at the same time creating a head of sufiicient size to tend to collect some of the material which it engages. As a result, the arrow usually leaves a very visible path as it travels through grass, leaves and the like so that it can be readily located. As a result, the number of practice arrows lost during archery practice in grassy or rooted areas is very materially reduced.

The heads 25 which are preferably used on the prongs 24 increase the force necessary to tilt the prongs rearwardly. The lower edges 26 of the prong heads 25 engage the frusto-conical portion 16 of the tip at or very closely adjacent to its juncture with the shoulder 15. Accordingly, these lower edges 26 of the heads act as a fulcrum, and rearward movement of the prongs tends to swing the upper edges 27 of the heads away from the frusto-conical portion 16, stretching the periphery of the sleeve 22. As a result the sleeve is increased in periphery so that the strain is transmitted over a considerably greater area of the sleeve than the local area engaged by the prong heads themselves. Furthermore, as soon as the pressure against the prongs is relieved, the prongs are free to flex forwardly by the resilience of the material forming the sleeve.

The structure illustrated in FIGURE 3 is identical to that illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 with the exception of the frusto-conical portion 29 which is mounted on the end of the cylindrical portion 17 in place of the frustoconical portion 19. The portion 29 is formed with a peripheral flange which is rolled downwardly to form an extending ring which encloses the upper end 31 of the sleeve 22 to prevent the upper end 31 of the sleeve 22 from stretching beyond the diameter of the end portion of the tip. In other words, no amount of flexing of the prongs 24 can stretch the upper portion of the sleeve 22 sufliciently to provide a. crack or recess at the forward end of the sleeve 22 between the sleeve and the solid tip. The structure shown in FIGURES 4 through 9 of the drawings is identical to that illustrated in my previous application for patent, Serial No. 832,020, filed on Aug. 6, 1959. The arrow shaft used in this modified form of construction is somewhat different from that previously described, the arrow 10 including a tapered forward end 11 which is designed to fit into a similarly tapered socket 32. The arrow tip 12 is of a type normally designed for target shooting and the like including a tapered tip 49, a flange portion 33, a neck portion 34 of reduced diameter which tapers and which leads to a portion 35 of full diameter and which is substantially the same diameter or slightly greater diameter than the shaft 10. A groove 36 is provided in this full diameter portion so that the portion of the head forwardly of the groove 36 comprises a flange 37. The cushioning member B, similar to the sleeve previously described, includes a flexible resilient body 39 having a frusto-conical wall 40 provided with a generally flat rear end 41 and having a knob-like projection 42 on its larger diameter forward end. The passage 43 includes a small diameter forward end portion 44 and a larger diameter rear end portion 45. The larger diameter rear end portion 45 is of somewhat less diameter than the arrow shaft, so that the rear end of the large diameter portion 45 is expanded by the large diameter portion 35 of the arrow tip as indicated at 46 and the resilience of the material forming the member 39 causes the side walls of the passage to bulge inwardly as indicated at 47 into the groove 36 of the arrow tip. As indicated, the flange 33 on the blunt arrow tip 49 also compresses the resilient material, as this flange is of larger diameter than the forward end portion 44.

A series of prongs 50 are engaged in the body 39 to project from a substantially flat forward end portion 51 of the body 39 outwardly of the projecting knob 42. The prongs 50 are provided with ends 52 which are imbedded in the body 39 to lie substantially angularly tangential to a hypothetical cylindrical surface having a common axis with the body 39. The prongs also include outwardly projecting arms 53 which are angularly related to the imbedded portions 52 and are each at an obtuse angle relative thereto. The prongs 50 are arranged to pivot about the axes of the imbedded portions 52. When in operable position, these prongs may be parallel or may diverge forwardly and outwardly as illustrated in FIG- URES and 6 of the drawings, the bends 54 of the prongs being in close proximity with the forward surface 51 of the body 39. However, it is possible for these prongs to pivot back about the axes of the imbedded portions 52 until the projecting arms 53 extend in a generally radial 4 direction and in a substantially common plane as indicated in FIGURES 8 and 9. The pivoting of these arms may be caused when one or all of the prongs engage underbrush, grass, turf or the like to prevent the arrow from burrowing under vegetation and becoming hidden from view.

In the event the forwardly projecting prongs engage a tree or other solid obstruction, the prongs may become imbedded in the tree so as not to pivot outwardly, and may therefore be forced substantially rearwardly through the sockets in the body 39 in which the prong ends 52 are imbedded. This may act to cause the arrowhead to penetrate the cushioning member B so that the arrowhead projects as illustrated in FIGURE 9. If the prongs fold outwardly as indicated in FIGURE 9, the tip of the arrow head will penetrate into the solid object to some extent, but by this time the force of the impact has been decreased sufliciently so as to prevent the shock from over-stressing the arrow shaft. It should also be noted that the resilient nature of the body 39 may also act to permit the prongs to be bent back beyond the position shown in FIGURE 9. As is indicated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, when the ends of the prongs are subjected to a rearward force, the material of the body 39 will flex to allow the projecting ends 53 to flex into a position where they are inclined in a rearward direction. Thus it will be seen that both of the constructions illustrated have in common the fact that prongs are imbedded in a body of resilient material and are capable of flexing rearwardly due to the elastic nature of body 22 or 39. In the structure shown in FIGURES 1 to 3 of the drawings, the elasticity of the body forms the sole means of permitting the prongs to flex and this is sufficient in the event the prongs do not extend forwardly at too great an angle. However, if it is desired to have the prongs extending forwardly to a greater extent, the construction shown in FIGURES 4 through 9 accomplishes this result. With this arrangement, the prongs first pivot about their axis until they do extend outwardly from the head, and then further pressure will cause the prongs to flex the resilient body much in the same manner as the construction illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 3.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my improvement in arrow heads, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. An arrowhead for use in combination with an arrow shaft, said arrowhead having a tip at one end thereof, a ring-shaped body of resilient material encircling said tip, and a plurality of angularly spaced rigid prongs embedded in, and projecting outwardly from, the outer surface of the body in a direction other than directly rearwardly therefrom, said prongs having their embedded ends extending through said body and engageable with said tip, said tip acting as a fulcrum about which said prongs may swing when the outer ends of the prongs are subjected to a rearward force, the body being of sufliciently resilient material to flex to permit this rearward movement of said arms toward positions wherein the projecting portions thereof extend directly rearwardly of said body.

2. An arrowhead for use in combination with an arrow shaft, said arrowhead having a tip at one end thereof, a ring-shaped body of resilient material encircling said tip, and a plurality of angularly spaced rigid prongs embedded in, and projecting outwardly from, the outer surface of the body in a direction other than directly rearwardly therefrom, said prongs having substantially flat heads on their embedded ends which are in engagement with said tip, said tip acting as a fulcrum about which said prongs may pivot when subjected to a force out of axial alignment with the prongs, said body being of sufliciently resilient material to flex to permit such pivotal movement of said rigid prongs.

3. An arrowhead for use in combination with an arrow shaft, said arrowhead having a tip of rigid material, said tip including a forwardly tapering portion of substantially frusto-conical shape formed at its rear end with a forwardly facing shoulder, a ring-shaped body of flexible resilient material encircling said tip forwardly of said shoulder, a plurality of angularly spaced rigid prongs having an end portion embedded Within said body and having their other ends projecting from said body, heads on the embedded ends of said prongs having generally flat surfaces engaging said tapering surface of said tip adjoining said shoulder, the prongs extending substantially normal to the portion of the tapered surface engaged, said tip acting as a fulcrum about which said prongs may pivot when the outer end of said prongs are subjected to a rearward force, the body being sufficiently resilient to permit rearward pivotal movement of said prongs.

4. An arrowhead for use in combination with an arrow shaft, said arrowhead having a tip of rigid material, said tip including a forwardly tapering portion of substantially frusto-conical shape formed at its rear end with a forwardly facing shoulder, a ring-shaped body of flexible resilient material encircling said tip forwardly of said shoulder, a plurality of angularly spaced rigid prongs, each prong having an end portion embedded within said body and having its other end projecting from said body, heads on the embedded ends of said prongs having generally flat surfaces engaging said tapering surface of said tip adjoining said shoulder, the prongs extending substantially normal to the portion of the tapered surface engaged, said tip acting as a fulcrum about which said prongs may pivot when the outer ends of said prongs are subjected to a rearward force, the portions of the heads opposite to the fulcrum points acting to stretch said body away from said tip upon rearward pivoting of said prongs and said ring-shaped body being of sufficiently resilient material to permit such pivotal movement.

5. The structure of claim 4 and including a forward extremity on said tip including a rearwardly facing flange enclosing the forward end of said body.

6. An arrowhead for use in combination with an arrow, said arrowhead having a tip on its forward end and comprising a body of resilient material'encircling said tip, a plurality of angularly spaced rigid arms embedded in, and projecting from, said body in a direction other than directly rearwardly therefrom, said resilient body being sufliciently resilient to flex to permit movement of said arms toward positions wherein the projecting portions thereof extend directly rearwardly of said body.

7. The structure of claim 6 in which the tip has a rearwardly elongated portion thereon having means for attachment with the shaft of the arrow, the tip having a somewhat smaller periphery than the periphery of the elongated portion, said tip having a rearwardly facing peripheral shoulder, a forwardly facing peripheral shoulder rearwardly of said first mentioned shoulder, and a reduced neck section between said shoulders, said body having an axial socket therethrough, said socket having a forward portion of lesser wall periphery than the rearward portion, and an intermediate portion having a similar configuration to the enclosed outer surface of said tip so as to be frictionally nested thereon.

8. The structure of claim 7 and in which the tip has a forwardly tapering forward end portion.

9. The structure of claim 6 and in which said body includes a series of angularly spaced holes extending thereinto in askew arrangement, said holes having a substantially tangential relation to a hypothetical cylindrical surface having a common axis with said body, said rigid arms engaged in, and extending outwardly from, said holes, each said arm including a projecting end and an anchoring end, said anchoring end having a frictional and rotatable engagement in one of said holes, and said projecting end having angular relation to said anchoring end.

10. The structure of claim 6 and in which said arms include embedded ends substantially equally angularly spaced about the axis of said body and being substantially tangent to a hypothetical cylindrical surface having a common axis with said tip and in askew arrangement, with the axis thereof non-parallel with the axis of said tip, said arms projecting forwardly from said body.

11. The structure of claim 6 and in which said body includes a series of angularly spaced holes extending thereinto in askew arrangement, said holes having a substantially tangential relation to a hypothetical cylindrical surface having a common axis with said body, said arms engaged in, and extending outwardly from, said holes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 275,236 4/1883 Marbach 273-106.5 2,213,637 9/1940 Osgood 273-l06.5 2,613,936 10/1952 Dalton 273-106.5 2,628,837 2/1953 Zwickey 273-4065 2,828,966 4/1958 Swartz 273-1065 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. 

6. AN ARROWHEAD FOR USE IN COMBINATION WITH AN ARROW, SAID ARROWHEAD HAVING A TIP ON ITS FORWARD END AND COMPRISING A BODY OF RESILIENT MATERIAL ENCIRCLING SAID TIP, A PLURALITY OF ANGULARLY SPACED RIGID ARMS EMBEDDED IN, AND PROJECTING FROM, SAID BODY IN A DIRECTION OTHER THAN DIRECTLY REARWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID RESILIENT BODY BEING SUFFICIENTLY RESILIENT TO FLEX TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID ARMS TOWARD POSITIONS WHEREIN THE PROJECTING PORTIONS THEREOF EXTEND DIRECTLY REARWARDLY OF SAID BODY. 